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DONJON, 

PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 






HENRY WARD, PRINTER, CANTERBURY. 



DONJON, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION ; 



A MORAL, SENTIMENTAL, AND COMPLIMENTARY 



POEM. 




BY CHARLES FREDERICK BENNETT 

I'l 



id quod 
GEquet Pauperibus prodest, locupletibus oeque ; 
OZque neglectum, pueris senibusque noeebiU 

Hpr. 

Precepts for the rich, the poor, the old, theyoung* 
That, if deapia'd, their welfare's knell have rung. 
The Author. 



(EantErimrg : 

HENRY WARD, SUN STREET; 
WHITTAKER AND CO., AVE MARIA LANE, LONDON, 



MDCCCXXXIV, 



TO THE 



RIGHT WORSHIPFUL RICHARD FREND, 

jfttapot* of <£*nterfmrp. 



Sir, 

Could I forget that paternal interest and solicitude, 
with which you have in more than one instance 
been pleased to honour an humble individual ; yet the 
testimony of your own conscience to a habit of uniform 
and impartial politeness would alone place him above 
the suspicion, at least with yourself, of any disgust- 
ing adulation on the present occasion. For where 
could the humble and grateful muse, with more pro., 
priety, lay her complimentary tribute, than at the feet 
of one, who so benevolently and courteously blends 
the affection of a Citizen with the labours of the chief 
municipal Magistrate. 

Canterbury, 1834. 
a 2 



PREFAC E, 



GENEROUS READER, 

You have before you my long announced Poem. 
It has at last, after your kind and protracted patience, 
seen the light. And now, if the mountain, labouring 
so long, produce but a ridiculous mouse, I certainly 
owe you a double apology. But what am I to say ? or 
rather, what would you say to that unfeeling parent, 
who should evince towards his bantling, however 
oblique of sight, rickety, deformed and " less than a 
mother's hope," none of that partiality, that receives its 
warrant from the universal and immutable laws of Na- 
ture ? Then again, here is but one mouse. How much 
worse might two vols. — I mean twins — have been ? 
Let its insignificance rather appeal to your pity than to 
your indignation. O let it enjoy the crumbs, that fall 
from your table, and guard it, if you can, I supplicate, 
from the terrifically whiskered ferocity, obscurity 
piercing sight, and cruel sport of the merciless grimal- 
kin, in any critical moments of its danger. 

But to speak more gravely, and perhaps becomingly 
on the subject. Responsible above every other, to one 
great and infallible critic for each thought, word, and 



VI1K 

deed, I must chiefly rely for the estimation of my little 
book on its good or evil tendency. What ! though it 
present not the coruscations, wit, or humour of a 
Boccace's Decameron, or a Byron's Don Juan, yet 
may the wish to promote the cause of social happiness 
be weighed in the scales of coelestial justice. I need 
not " be content to submit my claims to posterity" for 
this world's immortal honours. Whatever I have said, 
that may be just, a court above may immortalize. And 
if in any passage I may have unwittingly expressed 
what had better have been withheld, still let me hope 
that " Heaven's Chancery " may in its equity temper 
the severity of justice and admit some redeeming sen- 
timent of the work ; while some " recording," but not 
imaginary, "angel let fall a tear, and for ever blot 
out," with such delinquencies, every other transgression 
of its terrestrial author. 

I beg leave also respectfully to add, that sometimes 1 
have been apprehensive of undesigned plagiarism, 
whilst merely purposing to borrow the spirit and style 
of the established classic. Should this unhappily be 
discovered to be the case, I must necessarily draw once 
more upon the generosity of my Friends, and refer them 
to Sheridan's Preface to his Corned v of the Rivals. 



I have the honour to be, 

With every grateful regard, 

The Author. 



LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 



Abbot, Mr. W. 

Abbot, Mrs. W. 

Abbot, Mr. John Charles 

Adams, Mr. 2 copies 

Ash, Mr. 

Baker, Mr. George 

Baker, Mrs. George 

Baldock, Mr. Petham 

Baldock, Mrs. 

Baylay, Mr. 

Bean, Captain, Shoulden, 2 copies 

Bennett, Rev. W. 

Bennett, Mrs. W. 

Benson, Lady Frances 

Birt, Rev. Dr. 

Boteler, Mr. 

Brent, Mr. Aid. 

Brackenbury, Rev. 

Bridges, Sir W. Brooke, 3 copies 

Brydges, Sir John, 2 copies 

Buckley, Mr. George 

Buckton, Mr. 

Burch, Mr. T. L. 

Chafy, Miss 

Chisholm, Dr, 

Cooper, Mr. Aid. H. 

Cottrel, Mr. 

C. E. 

Collard, Mrs. William, 2 copies 

Collard, Mr. Henry, Nackington 

Cross, Mr. 

Cummins, Captain 

Curling, Mrs. 

Dashwood, Mrs. 



X. 

Delasaux, Mr. Aid. 

Delmar, Mr. W. 

Delmar, Mrs. W. 

Dodd, Mr. 

Dorset, Miss 

Ede, Mr. W. London 

Else, Mr. 

Evans, Miss 

Flint, Miss 

Foord, Mr. Thomas 

Fordwich, Lord, 3 copies 

Frend, Mr. Richard, 2 copies 

Friend, Mr. Taddy, Birchington 

Friend, Master William 

Furley, Mr. John 

Furley. Mr. H. 

Furley, Mr. Robert 

Hall, Mrs. 

Hammond, Mrs. 

Heald, Mr. Wisbeach 

Hilton, Mrs. Herne-street 

Hogben, Mrs. Sturry 

Honeywood, Sir John 

Horton, Admiral 

Hougham, Mrs 

Jacob, Captain 

Jones, Colonel 

Jones, Rev. 

Jones, Mr. Organist 

Joyce, Mr. George, jun. London 

Keeler, Mr. 

Kempton, Mr. 

Kidd, Mrs. Rochester 

King, Mr. 

Kingsford, Miss 

Kingsford, Mr. Alderman H. 

Kingsford, Mr. Aid. S. 

Lack, Mr. F. London 

Lack, Mr. R. W. London 



XI. 



Lake, Mr. Milton Chapel 

Long-hurst, Miss 

Longhurst, Miss L. 

Le Grand, Mr. 

Mair, Dr. 39th Regiment, Chatham 

Mapletoft, Mrs. 

Marriot Rev. J. P. 3 copies 

Marsh, Mr. St. Stephen's 

Mount, Mr. R. M. 

Mount, Mr. Henry, Nackington 

Nailer, Mr Robert, London 

Neame, Mr. George 

Nichols, Captain, r. n. 

Nokes, Mr. Deal, 2 copies 

Npyes, Mr. Crundale 

Oxenden, Sir Henry 

Oxenden, Rev. C. Bourn 

Page, Mr. Dover 

Penny, Mr. Richard, London 

Pemel, Captain 

Peters, Lady 

Peters, Mr. 

Peters, Mr. W. 

Philpot, Mr. Burgate 

Philpot, Mr. Castle-street 

Philosophical Society 

Pilcher, Mr. Wingham 

Plummer, Mr. Stephen 

Plumptre, Mr. m. p. 2 copies 

Pope, Mr. Mercery Lane 

Powell, Mr. Quex. 

Prideaux, Mr. W. H, 2 copies 

Reader, Mr. 

Reeve, Mr. St. Margaret's 

Richardson, Mr. Railway 

Ridout, Mr. jun. 

Rouch, Rev. F. 

Robinson, Captain, r, k. 

Rolfe, Mr. 



Xll. 

Rushbrooke, Airs. 

Sankey, Mr. Wingham 

Sankey, Mr. Robert 

Sharp, Mr. Castle-street 

Sladden, Mr. Faversham 

Smith, Captain, Wincheap 

Snoulten, Mr. Aid. 

Sondes, Lord 

Starr, Mr. 2 copies 

Stewart, Mrs. 3 copies 

Tiddeman, Mr. H. 

Tokely, Mrs. 

Tylden, Sir John Maxwell, 3 copies 

Tyson, Miss 

Wallace, Rev. 

Ward, Mr. 

W T atson, Hon. Richard, 3 copies 

Webb, Colonel 

W T hite, Miss, St. George's 

White, Mr, George 

Wing, Mr. London 

Wootton, Mr. 

Wright, Rev. Boughton 



DONJON, 

PROSPECT AND REFLECTION, 



Simmonds, thrice blessed shade ! assist my verse ; 

Impart thy social Genius, to rehearse 

In accents grateful all, that may best beseem 

The important tenour of the Moral Theme. 

Let thy Philanthropy shed forth a ray 

May lend thought ardour, yet direct its way. 

Not idly turn'd tow'rds what thy City boasts 

In her own Donjon. Ye from distant coasts, 

Visitors to this sweet spot, with me proclaim, 

The generous gift exalts our civic fame. 

Tell where the fragrant grove, and sward so gay, 

The rose, the myrtle, animate the day ; 

The breezy mount, the ever verdant slope, 

Lend youth fresh vigour and disease a hope ; 

Where age can smile, tho' panting o'er its staff; 



. DONJON, 

And there that loud and unaffected laugh, 
Those ruby lips of yonder circling band 
Peal forth, as now each infant hand 
Entwines its partner's in the jocund dance. 
Sylph-like the nimble, thoughtless hours advance, 
As they, with crisped locks and buxom eye, 
Ne'er yet have learnt to heave the deep drawn sigh 
And long ! long may this joy, this innocence 
Be theirs ! long may this Paradise of sense 
Remain ! long e'er ye taste the bitter care 
That ripens man ! No ! nor do then, Despair, 
Upon such blooming cheeks thy canker feed ! 
May Hope raise altars, if the heart must bleed. 

Lo, yon our stripling peasantry convene 

For hale gymnastics of the sylvan scene. 

Already see, impatient of delay 

To pass the spaces, where they skim their way, 

Swifter than light : so emulously fleet, 

No lynx could trace their steppings or their feet. 

Bold sons of Kent, indulge th' Olympic fire, 

Thus win the olive, proud ambition's tire, 

By honourable toil ! such the heart, the nerve. 

Your country's harvests, or its wars must serve. 




PROSPECT AND REFLECTION, 3 

Altho' too many, thankless for their birth, 

Neglect a heritage, and under-rate their worth ; 

Claim not a property kind fortune gave, 

Call themselves poor, and others' riches crave, 

To thee, Donjon, how varied the resort 

Of Sex, of Age, Complexion, and of Thought ! 

Thy sun or shade the convalescent cheers, 

And, blessing, dissipates his awful fears. 

The wintry mire, dust, dog's star's raging heat, 

Are each evaded in thy safe retreat. 

The desk and office send its sons to thee : 

They taste thy balmy zephyr ; and breathe free 

From that oppressive bile, that vapouring phlegm, 

The generous current of the heart so stem, 

And mar the tone of life. Hygeia waves 

Her magic wand, and Melancholy's slaves 

Have 1)urst the double fetters that oppress'd 

Both mind and limb. By Health and Freedom bless'd 

The senses wake, reason regains her throne, 

And man's the monarch of the world. Alone 

The moping wretch steals to the forest's gloom : 

There ever and anon to brood upon a doom 

Of care, that most himself creates ; for whom 

Kind Nature, and her choicest haunts, in vain 



DONJON ,, 

Spread their enlivening ties. Dost thou complain, 

Creation's favoured Lord ? Wilt abdicate thy sway 

O'er intellect, to shun the shine of day? 

Hast no kind mistress, no true friend, no kin, 

Not one soft charity, can melt within 

Thy breast this misanthropic thrall ? Oh haste 1 

Donjon invites thee. Thither speed to taste 

Her prospects and her cheer ; nor sullen fly 

To listless shades; there with the gloom to vie y 

Nay there perchance the coward suicide to die. 

^Neath vaunted solitude an error lurks. 

To commune with himself and Nature's works, 

At fittest interval, brings certain wealth ; — 

No wild romance ; — 'tis Philosophic health. 

But tho' of earthborn creatures his the van, 

So greater and so varied are the wants of man, 

Alone to live's a vain, impracticable plan. 

Does tyrant memory, can a morbid mind, 

Some recent wrong, that most men some day find, 

Some malignant neighbour, some ungrateful foe, 

Provoke to anger or excite thy woe ? 

And what though penury be thine ? Be sure 

Its mortifying ills will not endure 

For aye : the sins of wealth thou'rt sure to shun ; 



PROSPECT AMD REFLECTION. 

And being virtuous, half thy Heav'n's begun. 

What tho' thy caitiff foe's within this field I 

Has God no justice, innocence no shield ? 

Be temperate thou, tho' Malice still encrease, 

Tho' Slander join and Prejudice ne'er cease, 

Nor for some present vengeance risk thy future peace. 

Some base aspirant for the public bays, 

To Mammon, Rabble, or to Devil who prays 

May aid his coffers, or his malice guide, 

Or find some office for his low-born pride ? 

Has such mendacious miscreant laid his plot 

To starve ; and oust thee from thy humble cot ? 

His grovelling cunning may achieve its view, 

The loftiest pleasure, that his soul ere knew. 

Such pleasure who can envy ? To thyself be true. 

Nay, hast, like me, dejected to complain 

Of child th' irreparable loss, and pain 

Ineffable ? What pangs might pierce a heart, 

That Nature stamp'd in iron mould ; a smart 

And very agony, let memory wake,, 

And all the doating father to his heart core shake ? 

Donjon and time shall minister relief ; 

Shall bind thy w T ounds ; shall mitigate thy grief. 

Tho' all Pandora's plagues assail thy soul, 
b 2 



DONJCfK; 

Donjon and hope shall finally control 

A torrent of distress. 

Nor think the gross clay's Nurse alone to find 

In our Donjon : for nobler benefits design'd, 

Her Prospect furnishes Reflection for the mind. 

Search here if bud, or balm, or flow'ret bloom, 

Can chase thy stubborn apathy and gloom. 

And list ! — The bee ! — Yon beauteous grove of lime ! 

To sense as redolent as Hybla's thyme, 

Or spice of Araby, rejoic'd he greets, 

And stores in Tempe's vale Hymettus' sweets. 

Thee sapient, insect, too — how loves yon tow'r ? 

To yield its blossom'd boon in summer's hour ! 

So dulcet thence thy buz with Echo floats, 

Tis sure thy honey doth enrich her notes. 

And see Favonius, fain of late to rest 

His wing, by mid-day's torrid beam oppress'd, 

Awakes. From off his violet dewy bed 

Freighted he sails with nectar'd balm to shed 

Upon these the tinkling leaves, that dance to greet 

Their fluttering visitor. Jocund as sweet 

Now mounts and rides the Poplars' giddy height, 

That graceful bows , and rocks its airy sprite. 















PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 7 

Anon, with sailing fly or cygnet gay, 

Adown thy stream he wafts his gentle way, 

Blest Stour. — Thou stream ! whose property I hold 

My own ; nor would exchange for gem or gold 

Those joys thou giv'stmy soul, as oft thy banks 

I pensive roam, — a debtor for new thanks. 

For, gazing on thy sportive finny kind, 

With thee I recreate my surcharg'd mind ; 

Or, when the lambkin's weary of his play, 

With him upon thy margin herb I lay ; 

And in thy smooth reflective mirror trace 

Corroding care, half vanished from my face ; 

Now list the village peal, spreading the tale 

Of shepherd loves made blest within the dale ; 

Now pleas'd to note the rain-arc's lengthening glow,, 

That rounds its full orb in thy depths below ; 

Or trace the varied beauties of thy course, 

Thy purling wavelets, or thy murmur hoarse ; 

To catch thy silvery patches thro' the glade, 

Then lose again aside thy alder shade, 

The sombre wood nigh pass'd, with charm'd surprise 

I startle at thy brilliant peeping eyes, — 

So pierce and sparkle on my dazzled brain— 

A strange delirium, it could wish again ! — 



DONJON, 



Or ken the pluvious swallow briskly skim 

His traceless mazes o'er thy lowering brim. 

Did better thoughts unguarded fall asleep ; 

Did vile conceits insinuating creep 

Upon an absent mind, sunk in abstracted gaze 

And wanton re very, how might some blaze 

Of lightning, ere yet its thunder roll, 

Search out the deep recesses of the soul ? 

But studious innocence, without dismay, 

May watch th' electric spirit o'er the waters play ; 

Tho' the red bolt dash hissing thwart the wave, 

The good man's faith and hope shall make him 

humbly brave. 
But in each aspect of thy weal and woe, — 
Be't Summer lake, or Winter's overflow 7 
With bosom swoFn, I not forsake thy shore, 
Nay think in thy distress I love thee more. 

Yon nursemaid mark. In love how fondly cope 
This trusty guardian and her blooming hope. 
His playful eyes two Summers' suns not yet 
Reflect in sparklings of their brilliant jet ; 
Nor at Diana's fount have her's it seems, 
Drank the chaste lustre of their azure beams 



PROSPECT ASP REFLECTION. i 

A double century of moons. So young, 
So tender and so lovely both. His tongue 
Lisps innocence, and her's naught rude betrays. 
She fondly chides that he so roguish plays, 
His roseate arms so wanton round the snow 
Of that grac'd neck, — whose happy shape I trow 
Sweet taste had moulded in her happiest mood, 
And Greece been rapt in wonder to have view'd. 
No costume durance check'd fair Nature's gait : 
'Twas Freedom's handmaid lov'd on Ease to wait. 
Nor conscious beauty, nor fastidious glance 
Shrink from communion ; nor forbid advance 
Of visual interchange with passer less endow'd, 
Less clok'd in cunning, or less earthly proud. 
A smile habitual knows no reserve, 
Save what the simple heart might nerve, 
Did vice provoke its frown. But when her boy 
Dally with artless prank, she'll share the toy ; 
And then each heighten'd smile shall rapture into joy. 
A love more pure what feelings e'er expressd ? 
'Twas half the parent in her virgin breast. 
The audacious urchin now half-pouts must make, 
Now laugh outrageous, tho' his heart shall ache ; 
Studious of sportive trick, would grasp her chin ; 



10 DONJON. 

When both a rival mimicry begin. 

His tiny ringers she affects to bite ; 

He counterfeits to whine ; again quite 

Laughs, — quick hides his face, — thinks sly to peep. 

'Till fain awake his twinkling eyes would keep, 

But nestled on her breast, its darling drops to sleep. 



Ye, who've the thyrses of lewd Bacchus borne ; 

Ye fiends, who joy to smile when foes may mourn ; 

Ye heartless monsters, who ne'er knew to share 

In generous sympathy another's care ; 

Ye, who ne'er knew the blessed task to bless, 

But cloth'd in avarice feed on the distress, 

Thy neighbour's flock endures ; — say which of you 

Could meditate the deed, nor fear to rue 

The remediless wrong to such a maid 

As this ? — Yet such there is, — no whit afraid 

To pour seductive poison in her ear, 

Mislead her judgment, and to cause the tear 

Will flow in vain. Subtle, of handsome mien, 

As that fell serpent, once so fatal seen 

In Eden lost. Oh, ruffian hand ! forbear 

This early rose-bud from its kin to tear ; 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. H 

The parent stem of its prime sweet despoil ; 

Nor snatch it drooping from its native soil, 

Rent and deform'd. In time bethink thee, youth, 

Yeoman or noble, each stands pledg'd to truth : 

Without it, 'tis th' imposter steals a place, 

Nor birth, nor titles, but the virtues grace. 

Tis these must blazon thy heraldic crest; 

The 'generous heart and not its broider'd vest. 

Tis not the conquest of her peace and fame, 

His mistress' ruin, that's the hero's aim. 

Be sterling gallantry thy sole delight, 

Less to oppress, than the oppress'd to right. 

What voices these ? — This hour you may discern, 

In glowing speech, exchanging what they learn 

Of the state's change, each Briton and Compeer, 

Tho' health and freedom breathe their native air, 

Not hostile foeman now urge Donjon's care 

To fortify her sons. The charter'd right, 

The people's suffrage, and the balanc'd might ; 

News from a distant clime ; volcanoes and convulsion ; 

The chains of potentates, or kings' expulsion ; 

Some alter 'd politics of foreign lands, 

Who pow'r usurps, what patriot withstands ; 



[2 DONJON. 

What child of Afric last beneath i*he lash 

Of bloody fiends received the deadly gash ; 

All that the honour, all the safety heeds 

Of this our isle, each specuiatist pleads 

With earnestness intense. But, ah ! beware, 

Lest head or heart assume too great a share 

On this momentous theme. Be sure that helm 

Asks art, would steer the vessel of a realm, — 

Unlike to Phaeton, the rash and vain,— 

? Twixt Scyllas and Charybdas of the main. 

Opinions differ. First, distrust thy own, 

Thy brother's last : if his be overgrown 

In weak conceit, in temperance think alone. 

Where too stern virtue may demand thy voice, 

Consult calm reason, not thy neighbour's choice. 

Rather with awe, than with presumption vain, 

Let diffidence impose at times its chain. 

Logic or Euclid, tho' my warrant be, 

That 'midst obscurity / clearly see ; 

Whilst blinkard idiots that I err will dream, 

Should I not generous act and generous seem ? 

O visionary theorists of zeal 

Licentious, be sure ye know and feel 

The properties of rule, ere tamper with the weal, — 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 13 

The home, to which the wary patriot, and fond, 
Pledges a prudence, fealty, and bond ; — 
That home thy selves, thy kin, thy friends partake ; 
Oh ! pause ere stir to rage the tranquil lake. 
Probe deep the heart.— Deliberate. — Discern. 
Does prejudice there lurk, some selfish turn? 
Nay e'en for bleeding Poland with discretion burn. 
Not but such wrongs, as long have curst a state, 
Must find a passage to thy heart and hate. 
Not but did Poland claim thy native love, — 
As bleeds the mate's heart for her wounded dove ; 
Should thine ! so fond ! — but not so timid 
Flow that blood, a brave soil had lent ; nor slow 

To search with tiger mien, with warmth unchill'd 
By threat Siberian, how best t'avenge the kill'd, 
The gallant killed, in fight unequal ! — Oh ! 
Not to sympathy's weak, unaiding woe 
Should plead in vain. Of thy suckling think, 
Torn from its mother's breast and butcher 'd. Shrink 
Not to ponder with devoted heart, — 
Tho' chain'd or exil'd, thy compatriot part, — 
What loyalty thou owest that monster's hand, 
Can treacherous desolate the tortur'd land 
c 



14 DON. TON, 

It should protect. Here let thine eyeballs flame 

On Europe's chart. See ! plundered of thy name, 

O murd'rous blot ! by Kosciousko's grave 

Inspir'd and sworn, some angel wrath should'st crave 

To blast thy tyrant's course, and free a patriot slave. 

Whate'er thy Deity, invoke its grace, 

Propitiously to guard the much lov'd place 

To which thou owest thy birth. O'er home or arms 

'Tis that presides, the tempest wakes or calms. 

What time Bellona mounts her furious car, 

And her loud thunders rend the sphere afar ; 

Trust not thy pride to buckler or to spear, 

But pray such deity be ever near. 

Tho' helm of adamant, and proof cuirass 

From iEtna's furnace, forged of triple brass; 

Tho' the vain Persian's with great Pharoah's host, 

Array'd in battle, be all thine to boast ; 

Who is't the myriad legions shall protect, 

Should not auspicious Providence direct, 

And give to numbers might. May gentle peace 

Long shed her fostering dews if ere surcease 

Her bounteous reign! Or war of words alone, 

A folk industrious and paternal throne, 

Their good promote ! Nor yet, to sap the base 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. \$ 

Of both, may Luxury their worth efface ! 

Luxury! — tho' child of peace, more fell than wars; 

Who camp and senate from their duty draws 

Engulph'd and lost ; e'en civil broils less dread ; 

The veriest traitor ere dishonour bred 

Midst her degenerate slaves ! What tho* war, 

May blast thy harvests with despotic law ; 

Sever the loves, where pity might behove ; 

Nay sometimes violate the sacred grove ; 

Nor its blast-clarion spare the suckling child, 

A destin'd orphan ; reckless tho' and wild 

Its mad career, it heeds the laurel'd grave, 

And pays a tribute to the great and brave. 

When ask'd " whose widow, or whose orphan thou' ? 

The furrows smoothen o'er the grief- worn brow, 

And tears to ecstacy exulting turn 

To name the patriot and shew the honour'd urn. 

But luxury resists no siege — soon flies 

The field, and self-contemn'd the coward dies. 

But hence, thou painful theme ! with thee I part 

For one more welcome to my pensive heart ! 

Ye Belles of Durovernum, albeit fair, 
Nature's chief master-piece and choicest care ; 



1(; • DONJON, 

Whose tender blandishments your spell impart. 

Still fascinate the eye, still win the heart ; 

Who give Donjon delight beyond its own, 

And call back fervours, tho' my youth be flown ; 

Say, why ? — ah ! why not more frequent our grove? 

To what retreat more pleasant can ye rove ? 

Why so long absent from our kindly shade ? 

Tell me each languid and inactive maid . 

Ill season'd hours, devote to play or dance, 

Have they unnerv'd till atrophy advance ? 

In vain has Heav'n indulgent lent its boon, 

If beauty 'gin to wane before its noon. 

In vain, ye mothers, too may sons desire, 

Whose eyes shall heir a father's manly fire ; 

In vain hope daughters unimpair'd of strength, 

With comely form, like mountain nymph to move, 

And beauty's relic, when a grand-dam prove. 

O come, and clad in costume's neat attire — 

Be undisguis'd and all good taste desire ; 

Th' excrescent coif should fashion ask t'impose, 

Lop its deforming branches, and display the rose. 

Sweet rose of woman, flourish long and bloom, 

Whilst no untimely blast accelerate thy doom ! 

Neglect of health is not improving- time, 









PROSPECT AND REFLECTION, 17 

Of that possessed, economize your prime, 

And emulate the dames of old ; and see 

This monument of art and industry. 

Its gnomon proves to all how creeps the hour, 

How buds, how blossoms, and how fades the flow'r 

Of life. May each industrious child of earth, 

Like the young sculptor here, give birth 

To some such beauteous ornament for use ! 

And may no hyperergic e'er let loose 

His misjudg'd cavil at ambitious youth, 

But pay the honor due to mimic truth ; 

Or like my lays, though blemishes appear, 

Let good intention deprecate the sneer. 

Woe to the muffled wretch, by darkling night, 

Assails in wantonness or dastard spite 

This valued structure, rear'd at gen'rous cost 

To foster genius ; — much too often cross'd, 

Neglected by the world, and sunk in torpor lost ! 

Close by this very site, men blushing say, 

A friend once rais'd a dial to the day ; 

But midnight mischief stole, to sweep the gift away, 

And wounded see those trees bereav'd of bark, 

By felon spirit, that adores the dark. 

How must omniscience kindle at the deed, 
c 2 



]£ DONJON, 

To witness passions, can so grossly feed ! 
Revenge, thou tenant of the feeble mind, 
Say what the triumph, thou didst ever find ? 
Thy maw seems never satiate. Banquet 
On hecatombs, thy thirst hydropic yet 
Would quaff more blood ! let the stiletto drink 
The life you hate — how little did you think 
To aid escape from all thy further harm ! 
The soul has wing'd its flight above alarm 
For mundane foe, and left thee — what ? a pale 
Memento of thy grave, a something to bewail. 
Abed, or in thy path — abroad — at home — 
To Andes top, or desert wilds dost roam — 
On scaffold , or in exile, — all the same ! 
Public and self contempt shall brand with shame, 
While conscience never cease to feed its quenchless 
flame. 



And, ah ! Donjon, how blindfold is the state 
Of human hearts, oft prize or wail their fate 
In thy retired haunts ! scarce has one fool gone^. 
That self-tormenter, with his face forlorn, — 



/i 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION; j C) 

Than straight I ken this inexperienced wench 
Steal, as she thinks, unseen to yonder bench ; 
Quick from her breast the warm epistle draws, 
Quaffs its false flattering oaths, and smiles applause ; 
The poisonous promise to the dregs she drinks, 
And what she wishes true, enraptured thinks; 
Forgetful, blesses loud his perjured name, 
Kisses the signature, and ruin'd seals her shame. 

But, list ! What sounds, melodious and refin'd, 
Doth Echo prate of, though in voice confln'd? 
Tones which the busy mimic loves t'exhale, 
When sovereign music triumphs thro' the dale. 
And where not triumph ? Thron'd on the beams of day, 
Thou wield'st thy wide, indisputable sway ; 
Allied to stars in hymns of praise by night, 
Thy holy concord makes the heav'n's delight. 
Now, Donjon ! now, if e'er attraction thine, 
Who will deny thou breath'st a breath divine ; 
An essence of impassion'd life, a soul sublime ? 
Immortal music ! thou sainted presence, hail ! 
Ethereal boon, for pity lent our wail 
And woe, and evanescent joys ! power grand, 
That work'st thy miracles, beyond wizard hand, 



20 DONJON, 

Upon the heart ? that lik'st the sylvan reeds 
Among in simpleness to stray ; yet deeds 
Magnanimous for patriot canst inspire, 
When, rouz'd his breast with preternatural fire, 
Bursts the full glory of the lofty lyre. 
In sapphic tenderness canst wake the shell 
Of love, that lingering, melting, will yet dwell 
On th' exclusive theme ; will sigh — will weep — 
Will blush ; and shiver and burn anon in sleep : 
Will start, awake, and think — think to heart break, 
In sickening disappointment ! Canst shake 
Old ocean's bed, e'en to its depths profound, 
Do thy dread thunders wrathfully resound ; 
Do peal to peal responsive roar, 
From the rock'd welkin to the trembling shore ; 
And every mountain pine, affrighted nod, 
Submiss, holding thy voice some warning of a God! 
Or nature's music, or its counterfeit, 
The wit canst cozen, and the senses cheat, 
With sceptre absolute, alarming, painful, sweet ! 
Oh, past expression, sweet the plaintive lute, 
And virgin lip, whiles eve and all else mute, 
Save pitying murmurs from the streamlet's flow ! 
These modulate the harmony of lovers' woe. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 01 

Till anxious absence languish unto death 

In broken sighs, half-sobs, and hesitating breath. 

If aught more exquisitely sweet than these, 

List Acis' fount, a mistress' grief t' appease, 

Bubble its tearful dirge, and every mourner please. 

Till drown'd in Polypheme's deep monstrous roar, 

iEtna seems dumb,— its horrors heard no more. 



'Tis music flies on the tornado's wing, 
Tho' hurley burley ruin hoarsely sing, 
Amidst the elemental jar and deafening ring. 
There's music in the dove's affection'd coo, 
When first she broods to love and nature true. 
There's music in the tiger's cruel howl, 
When hunger prompts an unsuccessful prowl. 
When Paphos' queen her sparrows shall unyoke, 
How sweet the silence of yon sky is broke 
By vivid music from the parent wing ; 
That finds ere long the nestling food to bring ! 
There's music in the eagle's scaring scream, 
When starting from the heart appalling dream, 
She finds — too true ! — her nestling sick to death. 
Now plies her downy breast to warm back breath ; 



22 DONJON, 

Now round the nest she circling flaps the air, 

On rueful pinion driven, and maddening to despair. 

The cleft rock's trickling, or the purling rill, 

The cataract precipitate, have each a skill 

To fling the witchcraft mantle o'er 

Admiring sense, and tempt us to adore 

Its captivating note. Both rippling lake 

And stormy sea a euphony partake, 

Till bards inspir'd to ecstacy rejoice, 

Musing their lessons at great Nature's voice. 

There tender Genius may subdue the note, 

Ere it escape the chord, shall float 

In dulcet undulation on the zephyr's wing, 

With Fancy sail, with fairy Whisper sing : 

Or, with a bold enthusiastic hre, 

Ambition stimulate ; such worth inspire 

As well may homage claim — e'en of its parent lyre. 

Without this quickner of our inert mind, 
Its visual organ were but blear and blind ; 
The stagnate faculties must fail per aye ; 
Each pulse, and life of life soon ebb, not play ; 
And all its genial sun. would cease to glad the day. 



PROSPECT A1SD REFLECTION. 23 

Hence science much has studied to impart 

Its imitative impulse to the heart ; 

Christian and Jew, folk sacred and profane, 

Nations most differing would cultivate the strain ; 

Jubal and Rhodopeian Orpheus 

Did modulate its noble, its entrancing use; 

Albion's poetic prince, and Avon's child, 

Oft wont to listen to its notes, have smil'd 

And spoke its praise. By heav'n's harmonious sprites 

Inspir'd, thy sister poesy reveres thy rites; 

Owns all thy miracles, thy force and aid, 

Sacred or moral, the blest world pervade; 

What tones the circle of our feelings range, 

Our Passions propagate, correct and change, 

Poesy still chants. Thy richest energy 

Devotion borrow'd first on humble knee 

From Penitence, — when Israel's tortur'd heart 

Found the remorse, and pang, and horrid smart 

Due to adult'rous murther. Contrition's fears 

Then smote his troubled harp ; melted to tears ; 

The woeful psalm ascends, and heav'n in mercy hears, 

In fix'd attention hung, awhile thy choir, 

Donjon, is mute ; for now the trumpet's bray 

Awakes the embers of our sluggish clay ; 



24 DONJON, 

While memory dwells on bye-gone deeds of fame, 

Till cowards kindle at the soldier's name. 

'Twas thus Tyrtceus, with his warrior song, 

Could stay the valour of that Spartan throng, 

Whose fainting spirits would Ithome yield ; 

But drove at length Messenia from the field, 

Rouz'd by the Athenian's lyre. Our gallant band 

Thread every mazy sound, each grace expand ; 

Unlock the stores of harmony and tone, 

Storm our rapt breasts, and bend them to their throne. 

And brother soldiers, seek our tranquil shade ; 

Let this your music every sense invade ; 

Your bosoms to each march responsive beat, 

Yet long e'er need to brave the battle's heat ! 

Here still, ye sons of Waterloo, repose — 

Here bind your shamrock, thistle, and your rose ! 

And most — no torch of civil discord flame ! 

My pray'r: —nor kindred only bear the name, 

Oppos'd in enmity of nature ! Those days 

Be distant far, when scant compunction stays, 

To shield or age or sex, household or flock 

From fire or carnage 'mid the desolating shock! 

May no new martyr meet in yonder field 

The stake to aid his pangs ; no furies wield 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 25 

I 

A scourge for piety! Why peace, good will, 

And neighbour love, dream ye to hate and kill ? 

If fire must serve, erect an altar wide; 

Let the bright element unmix with pride 

Of blood stain 'd Christian. An offering sanctify, 

That most shall please in mercy's gracious eye ; 

The pure flame mount, and ask — acceptance ere it die. 

Of victim blood let ne'er the temple scent, 

But gums to type forth od'rous love be spent; 

For lamb, nor dove, such welcome interpose 

As sacrifice of hate; — -that thornless rose 

Of Paradise transplant ; of peerless hue ; 

For ever fragrant, and of beauty true! 

Nature itself must prove its author kind, 

That charity forgot, all faith is blind. 

Mahometan, Jew, Christian or the sect, 

A good man most must prejudice reject; 

To his own faith pledg'd, tho' zealously sincere, 

Not less he holds each fellow-creature dear ; 

By one hand fashion'd,destin d all to death, 

Fraternal sympathy should breathe its kindred breath. 

But does the foreign foe invade our shore, 
And gentle peace its comforts shed no more,— 



2g DONJO-N. 

Oh ! then — let music's transport urge the heart, 

And every patriot attribute impart i 

His native pipe, to Scotia's highland dear, 

'Midst mountains vibrate, and be ever near, 

To stir its chieftain thro' the daring strife ; 

The olden honours count, and point his rule of life ! 

Now view our fields. Here Ceres' golden smile 
Awaits the sickleman, where late awhile 
Th' elastic breeze sail'd o'er the waving corn 
Of emerald sheen. Those ears, the barbs adorn, 



Our barons prized of yore — for strength and beverage 

horn. 
Ne'er may the wanton clown, with foot profane, 
Trample nor waste that charitable grain, 
In pity lent to stay man's ebbing life ! 
What penalty for sacrilege so rife 
May not the wrath of justice doom ? Forbear, 
Thou ingrate, nor insult heav'n's bounteous care. 

And there — see science conjure from the mine 
Its iron miracle ! Lo, there combine 
Dispatch and safety ! Britannia's boast and hope, 
Her public enterprise ! — Her industrious coast ! 









PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 27 

Oh, hear ye pow'rs thy suppliant's public pray'r. 
Vouchsafe the arts, the sciences thy care ! 
Let social aims, advance of intellect, 
Let patronage each meaner thought correct ! 
Genius and commerce bend their fleetest sail, 
Their chart, their compass, and their port ne'er fail, 
But ride triumphant in your happiest gale ! 
Guide with thy brightest, most auspicious star, 
Philosophy's adventVous steps, when roaming far ; 
Let not presumptuous and oft erring reason 
O'erstep her bounds ; but do ye season 
With becoming diffidence each distant view, 
Nor let weak vision prove — each dim-seen thing 
untrue ! 



And what phenomenon is this, ye sage, 

So comes to cast its splendour on our age ? 

Tis subtile gas bursts forth, no more confin'd,— 

As sudden genius sometimes on mankind. 

Can the cold, dark entrails of a mine 

Warm into vapour and thus brilliant shine ? 

Does heav'n besides his fuel, bless with light 

Ungrateful man ? glad his heart and cheer his night! 



8 DONJOK, 

And now, — the rich autumnal honors past, 

Loiter I long to watch the wintry blast 

Snatch some lone leaf and withering from its spray. 

Where once it grac'd the blithsome, vernal day. — 

The grove's last leaf! — disconsolate and old ; 

That, yet tenacious of its weaken'd hold, 

Would fain its doom, — a doubtless truth ! — distrust* 

And quivers, as it falls, — to join its kin in dust. 

But ah ! how vain the studious, pleasing hour, 

I've contemplative hung on Donjon bower, 

Tracing each life vein of the lucid leaf, 

Whilst all oblivious of its days — how brief, 

And number'd as mine own. 

But now ! what hubbub clamours are all these ? 
What lo Paeans rouse the mid-day's breeze ? 
What frolic gestures and what antic crew ? 
What have these school-loos'd sons of Momus now 

to do ? 
But ah ! — that centre of the noisy ring, — 
That woeful wight ! at whom they fling 
Ten thousand gibes, while he suffus'd with blush 
And fear, bends 'neath the torrent's terrifying rush. 
In pity's name how's this ? — dear little pledge ! 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 29 

The first to happy parents, whom they ailedge 

And fondly think— a wonder ! — noviciates 

At school of Hectors and the classic fates ; 

Must prove him scion of a noble race, 

And with his puny fist inflict disgrace 

On some Thersites, or some giant foe, 

That all the boys and all the gods may know 

He is no coward ! 'Tis not to parse or write, 

For his first lesson is at twelve to fight. 

Yet such his winning innocence and years, 

Such too an artless look, that both endears, 

He conquers sympathy, — he triumphs with his tears. 

Thus have we seen the hailstorm overpow'r 

Some weakly germ of spring, — some promised flow'r, 

Till day's mid-beam, with its reviving flood, 

Send down its kindly influence on the bud, 

Melt the ic'd element to spangted dew, 

And more than all its former charms renew. 

Heav'n grant thy future days a like escape 

From tyrant custom and rude power ; so shape 

Thy path and port, that whatsoe'er the name 

Thou bear'st, it lose no lustre with fair fame ; 

That where true honor call thee to the field, 

The gauntlet's welcom'd and thy' glory seal'd- ; 
d2 



30 donjon, 

Yet men record, thro' all life's warring course, 
Thy virtues conquer more than brutal force. 

Thanks to thee, chanticleer, I wake and rise : 

But where's philosophy to trace these skies ? 

Oh, whom can ever noxious vapours please 

Of midnight dank ? who not prefer the breeze , 

That heralds forth inspiring morn. Before 

Her blushing banner, precipitate and sore 

Fly groups of hideous and terrific care, 

The plagues of folly, and the crimes, which dare 

The shade, but shudder at the light. Dismay 

And horror, whisp'ring, grope their darkling way, 

Half pause, and feel, they think, — th' arrest of rapid 

day. 
Sluggards, arouse ! this enervation shun, 
'Tis twilight tells what hour's last sand has run ; 
The graduate progress of reflected light, 
And bluely waning star, — last vestige of the night. 
Mark where the varying tints the heav'ns adorn, 
Softening the shaded hues of dappled morn. 
Some oraison should hail this moving scene, 
And feel the glow, imbues the vault serene. 
What gaseous blaze can night's dull lamp display? 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 31 

To vie in splendour with the dew-drops' ray ? 
What gorgeous pageantry of costly pride 
Can tithe its grandeur, or a praise divide 
With this sublimity ?— see, see it mount !•— 
Day's majesty ! the potent, gen'rous fount 
Of mundane life ! Wide darts the beamy boon, 
Wide comfort genial spreads, — and kindles glorious 
noon. 

Thus unconfined Britannia's pow'r, I ween. 

In social charity shall far be seen ; 

With light celestial glad th' untutored soul, 

And its dull, chilling apathy control ; 

Reveal a day-spring, where deep gloom it find* 

And wake to energy the torpid mind ; 

His heart, his intellect an influence give, 

May teach the savage happily to live ! 

And oh, may thou, yet greater light of lights, 

Irradiate that mind, dare violate the rights 

Of nature ; dare trample on the tenderest ties, 

Endear existence, — heedless what shriek or cries 

May call aloud to an offended God, 

And piteous beg his retributive rod 

For Guinea's injur'd coast ! 



32 DOS JON, 

But neighbours, haste ; 
The prime of life enjoy, not idly waste ! 
Our Donjon's choir invite — the sumptuous banquet 

taste. 
Save where the hind his early labours ply, 
Or milkmaid troll her artless minstrelsy ; 
Save where the pack the chase's transport feel, 
And echo counterfeit the joyous peal ; 
Tho' strains of rapture from each wood resound, 
Insensate man's the only idler found. 
Restless he lies, intent to dream some joys 
Of sensual kin, vain power, or gilded toys 
Of human fascination. Morpheus for mirth 
Awhile deludes, but scarce gives fancy birth ; 
The wretch awakes to find his fabric drop to earth. 

But hail, thou holyday reflex of sky 

Pour'd on our Stour ! Hail blest sublimity, 

From font of azure blue ! Bright summer hail ! 

Adown each fecund streamlet joyous sail, 

Ye finny crew : glide on, and plunge, and dart 

Incalculably swift ; else slowly part 

Thy liquid plain, and curve with matchless grade ; 

Revel in pastime with thy sportive race, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 33 

vv mle yet permit : Ye, from these scorching rays 
Secure — tho' feeling much their boon — oh, raise 
Some grateful look above, and hymn tW Almighty's 
praise ! 

Ye insect rangers, too, of these our banks, 
Wanton your span, display your gorgeous ranks, 
Or singly catch my gaze ! Thy lordling foe 
Breathes not in me. I bring no net, nor shew 
To raptur'd eyes my dazyling captive hoard, 
All class'd in learned pride. Freedom ador'd 
Be thine ! and nature unrestrained ! — With me 
Such curious thirst, indulged, would ill agree : 
Nor shalFt at thy expence, — be sure, humanity. 
Farewell, then summer ! Urge thy rapid tread, 
Oh sooner to return ! 

Thanks! — winter's fled. 
W T hilst glow-worm darks, whilst owlet, bat and fay 
For chambers slink, impervious to the day ; 
How cheer to taste the dawn in show'ry spring ; 
To con the love-notes Donjon's songsters sing ; 
And fragrance kiss off Zephyr's lip : once thine 
Its freshness, ere he woo'd. sweet Eglantine. 



34 DONJON, 

But these— What household movement's this? — 

Whence bound ? — 
These caldrons, tea-pots, tripod stools and round ; 
Baskets, bellows, tinder-box, matches, fuel, 
Bottle, napkin, pipkin ; and child's cold gruel ! 
Mayhap intended to be again made hot, when wakes 
The babe ; whom hammock'd in her cloak-hood, takes 
This poor mother of a numerous group, 
Full pleased to join th' exhilarated troop. 
She hopes to count up the sufficient rent, 
Picking yon balmy plant, kind fortune lent 
To aid a beverage, once our nation's boast 
At board of baron, nay, of sovereign host. 
And there three other tribes ! — with donkey hir'd, 
Joint stock and atlas quadruped, ne'er tir'd 
Of s world of chattels, children, et cetera required. 

Lo ! now they reach the garden of a gen'rous lord 

And wise. By his discrimination aw'd, 

The vulgar and abandon'd keep aloof : 

Th' industrious, decent poor enjoy alone the proof 

Of his benevolent employ. There you may see 

The housewife teach her bairns to cull with skill, 

Not run and vulgarize where'er they will, 



PROSPECT AINO REFLECTION, 35 

To idly squander time in ceaseless play, 

But active work, tho' merry pass the day. 

In yonder basket sleeps her cradled child, 

Of beauties rifled from the flow'ret wild. 

Wert there, you'd own, what every passer says, 

Her slumbering charge transcends the muse's praise ! 

Tho' Parian marble, tho' Praxiteles 

Present no godhead urchin here to please, 

Might tempt a Phryne's theft, — not all her gold, 

Quadrupled would suffice to buy, if sold, 

This pledge of plighted love. That placid smile, 

So plays upon a brow devoid of guile, 

Of hate, or grief, is lent it from above, — 

Impress of heav'n's own innocence and love ! 

Thine eyes half closed, methinks their shine suffuse 

This mellow'd gleam, athwart the silvery dews 

Of gentle sleep, and thus illume thy face. 



Thus should some partial cloud eclipse the place, 
Where brightest Cynthia loves to shed her grace, 
Tho' Alpine snows suppress their dazzling hue, 
And vaulted concave wane its vivid blue, 
Mine eye must rove, with wonder and delight, 



35 D01SJ0N, 

O'er such reposing loveliness of night. 

Thy slumbers, babe, still watchful heav'n forefend 

From starry influence malign ; nor send 

Its waters down ; the drenching mischief stop ; 

These golden tresses spare and coronal of hop ! 

Yet why this pray'r ? Is not a mother near, 

With life blood and a breast might banish fear ? 

Close wrap'd as bud, that waits the fertile spring, 

Her kerchief, cloak and clasp, thy infant cling — 

Fond nature's amulet, to fell despair 

Impenetrable ! — these a siege would bear 

Of storms, and angels ken thee — with a guardian care. 



Night dews descend ar.d look the tears of earth, 
That mother's tears !-^as she laments the birth 
Of children, under covert of blind shade> 
Who dare the deeds, would hell itself degrade. 
Some of an age twelve summer's suns scarce count, 
Of either sex, alas ! drink deep perdition's fount. 
Hark ! What midnight beau is't coughs so weak, 
Blabbing a tale, his tongue would quake to speak ? 
Nay, tremble not, ye dotard limbs, with fright : 
I'll bring no torch to pierce these shades of night, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 37 

Lest its beams thy grandchild shew, what a feast 

Thy wanton palate sates on, like a beast, 

When girls may grace the board. Go, go to bed, 

Possetless. Time thy wild pulse, and cool that head 

With hellebore : — no avarice so diseas'd or dread ! 

Was this thy vesper oraison? Dost think 

At such idolatry the stars will wink, 

Or to the tomb thy soul can, like thy body, shrink? 

If thou must act what nature ne'er design'd, 

Go, play the hermit; many a simple find; 

Diet thy rebel blood in mossy cave; 

Penance thy days, no more to sin the slave ; 

Lift up thy thonghts; and court — a reputable grave. 

But soft! Why chills the tepid zephyr? Why, 

Born of his sweet breath, thus languishingly 

Droop in orphinage this fruit and flow r ? 

Their parent is no more. The murth'rous pow r 

Of Boreas usurps the thicken'd sky, 

And all spring's promise, withering looks to die. 

This wind's drear whistle, its alternate howl, — 

Now too this harsh, this hideous hoot of owl, 

Sad omen'd,— ah ! sure conspire tVerwhelm 

The gifts and joyfulness of nature's realm! 

My half-planted footstep back shrinks aghast 



38 DONJON. 

Unnerv'd ; and the panic heart-shock past, 

A faint and faltering pulse seems left to count 

its last. 
Here eddying dusts, hurl'd high, deface and tear, 
And all is wildness, whirlwind and despair, 
As start the fluttering songsters to retreats, 
Far from the danger'd nest. Now clattering beats 
The hurtling hail ; its stones now sudden cease, 
As if exhaust of wrath, — portent of short liv'd peace ! 
Man's stricken nerve distrusts the solemn pause ; 
And from its covert not a bird withdraws, 
Spell bound and mute. And hark ! that hoarse, low 

sound, 
Rolling from the far south ! again ! the ground 
Sure quakes — or seems — and that horizon flash ! 
Fleet and dread herald of the thunder's crash I 

Oh ! see on volume of the huge, potent storm, 

Fn murky grandeur, in magnific form 

Array 'd, the minister of rueful ire 

Sublimely comes, and deals resistless fire ! 

What voice tremendous every valley fills ! 

How roars its compass round these trembling hills ! 

Omnipotent the shock, and swept its aery prey 

Qf shrieking eaglets from the face of day ! 



I 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 39 

Jove's fabled servant yields his native height, — 
— His pow'r imperial ! — yet half but quench'd, still 

bright, 
His eye darts back on death — his own electric light! 
Nor thou Dodona, sav'st thy sacred oak ! 
Launch'd is the bolt; and, at the single stroke, 
Trillions of splinters, all thy wreck'd remains, 
Scattered and prostrate lie. And much it pains 
Presumptuous man, his lot it should betide 
To read this humbling epitaph on earthly pride. 
" By talon furiate, and by piercing eye/' 
■ li With wing'd celerity was rul'd the sky/' 
" How many a blast this sturdy oak withstood," 
-" As spread his giant arm and sceptre o'er the wood ?" 
■" But did not providence such glories scan," 
" Where the fit lesson for the pride of man?" 
The plant, the brute, and every miser mine, 
Must all their vaunted properties resign, 
When time shall speed no more : but thou blest spark 
Immortal, no lightnings and no time shall mark 
For comfortless extinction ! — Yet this life's dear ; 
And who so bold, as not to quail with fear 
In such an hour as this ? the welkin's rent, 
And sulphurous globes of flame successive sent, 



40 DOS JON, 

Seem hissing at my feet. Big sheets of water 
In deluge fall ; winds rage from every quarter, 
To mock and mingle with the deafening peal 

Of thunder. That fait 'ring tongue would fain 

reveal 
All, his compunction makes th'afFected atheist feel. 

Tis now the' sons of revelry have met 
At various haunts, and ruin spreads her net, 
Unseen by midnight lamp. The gamester fumes. 
Frets; — now bites the lip, — and now assumes 
A ghastly smile. Now need his wits be clear : 
For he has stak'd his last! — a stake begetting fear! — 
And fear confuses all the frenzied brain 
Of husband and of father, — ties alas, how vain ! 
The thoughts, which on his game ought keenly fix, 
With beggary, suicide and ruin mix. 
Full many a wretch too strolls the nightly round ; 
Here songs obscene ; there vengeful oaths resound ! 
Then come, — let's fly this Lazaretto crew, 
Nor more the unavailing theme pursue. 
Lo ! Donjon's mount invites us to the skies — 
A heav'nly banquet, it to none denies ! — 
Points to the beauteous harmony above, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 41 

And asks of man the tribute of his lov£ ; 
Excites each latent quality of mind, 
The unseen mechanist of all to find. 
We tread the heav'ns ; our low-born passions crush ; 
And all our feelings for their meanness blush. — 
— Ah, now ! how light's my heart ! care's left below, 
All that I view is peace : I see no foe, 
Feel no resentments, envy, hopeless grief : 
All the poor, wounded spirit meets relief. 
Here too my petty pride decays. — none see- 
No pride celestial dwells with general charity ! 
No pigmy plumage torn from new fledged breast 
Floats half so light ; nor sat e'er halcyon nest 
Less pond'roits ; nor May could breeze impart 
Less ruffl'd, — than this now buoyant, placid heart. 

Oh, by thy side, blest contemplative maid, 
Be every thought as thine, bright, pure and staid, 
Urania ! — Let's sing some classic story, 
May lift the mortal to oetherial glory. 
And, thou Alcides, each marv'llous labour done, — 
How just the recompense thy wisdom won, 
Illustrious constellation ! on earth 
How oft to fortune, favour, or to birth 
We owe our proud distinctions ; but thee 5 
e2 



42 DONJON 

The high Thunderer's vaunted progeny, 

Invests no birthright from a sire divine, 

For all the toilsome acquisition's thine, — 

Thine the dauntless, albeit an infant, clasp, 

Could squeeze the reptiles in thy deadly grasp, 

The jealous Juno to thy cradle sent : 

Whence twin-born Iphiclus, loud shrieking, rent 

The house with agonizing fear ; but thou 

Couldst dash them on th'ensanguin'd floor with brow 

Smiling contempt upon the forked tongue, 

That out of poisonous jaws then helpless hung, 

Lolling in its own gore ! to heav n submiss, 

Thine was the choice of virtue, guide to bliss 

Eterne. And many a god was pleased to lend 

Some armory, might fortitude befriend 

Like thine. Not that Minerva's coat of arms design'd 

To ward her sex's beauty from thy mind ; 

Nor Vulcan's brazen club and gold cuirass, 

No, nor Jove's thunderbolts could hope surpass 

The shafts of Love, triumphant from his birth 

O'er all, — co-born with chaos and with earth. 

And tho' the current coin may thousands cheat, 

True love's no less divine, for human counterfeit. 

Pure love is loyal to his honour'd post. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 43 

Spurning the contraband from foreign coast. 

Do time or fortune ere his temple harm ? 

Tiie ling 'ring ruin sheds a double charm. 

The just, and modest fair's the lover's crown, 

Elysium her smile, discomfiture her frown. 

Does honour consecrate the wedded home ? 

Then beauty shall command the thoughts might roam; 

That gifted charm attract within its sphere 

Domestic sanctity, surpassing dear, 

And fitting to the soul. The powers above, — 

Nay e'en the bad below, admire this pious love. 

But there's a guilty and a modest blush ! 

Urge the young culprit what the burning flush 

Betrays, she'll own, and too well knows. Now ask 

The buoyant, bounding nymph, unused to mask, 

Why there are moments, that suffuse the cheek 

With new-blown roseate dye ? They oft not speak 

The motive to a guileless heart, she fain 

Would know herself, but asks that heart in vain. 

Thus if wing'd Iris, on some autumn eve, 

Her bow with variegated colour weave, 

As Sol 'mid partial clouds and mist descend, — 

In mingled hues the distance oft will lend 

That light- ting'd crimson to some cloud afloat, 



44 DONJON, 

Where silent beauty blush — what lovely nature wrote, 

But hold ! — methinks Nemoea's woods resound 
With his cave's last bellowing, where fast bound 
In iron grasp the lion chokes. His roar 
Subdued sinks like retiring thunders o'er 
The main ; and with a last hoarse murmuring tone, 
Mingles the gasping interval and dying groan. 
— — All's mute ! — the glorious struggle's done. At 

length 
Thy nerve prevails. He tried,— he found and felt thy 

strength , 
Supine, convuls'd ! His eyeballs flaming rage, 
On's conqu'ror fix'd, quickens death's ghastly gaze, 
And Lerna'-s frightful monster thou canst dare, 
Whom, half but seen, the bolden'd heart might scare ; 
Him dare with brazen, massy club assail 
In conflict close, since arrows nought avail 
To pierce his trebly dense, impenetrable mail. 
High mount his hundred crests on bulky spires, 
Black poisons issue with his hissing fires ; 
His numerous blood-stain'd eyes their threatnings 

shoot, 
Proscribe and mark as sure the victim of the brute. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 45 

On high thou wield'st thy brass of cumb'rous weight; 

Down falls the pond'rous crush on th' hostile pate. 

The smash 'd brain vivifies in reeking gore, 

And multiplies these heads a hundred more* 

" Ho ! Iolas ! Assist with ready hand : " 

Our hero cries. " Hie to yon furnace ; an iron brand 

Snatch thence, and place it to the bleeding head, 

When next I bruise this hot-blood hydra dead." 

Thus strength alone not alway will suffice : 

Inviting art, the formidable dies. 

Such and much more ! Brave, wise and good we find 

The warfare of thy life, — to serve the human kind. 

Pluto and Cerberus — Earth, Heaven and Hell — 

In admiration rapt,— thy toils prodigious tell. 

What reminiscence do these orbs awake ? 

Is't pity only grants thee to partake 

Of heav'n's light, Cassiope ? Oh ! say, 

Say what it boots, when vain-fed pride shall sway 

The mortal heart. How does the mournful fate 

Of Niobe, Arachne,— -spirits that hate 

Humility, — vex th' aspiring plans and gait 

Of mortified ambition ! — anguish double, 

Do this pride entail on children trouble ! 



46 DONJOX. 

Could not the homage paid a consort queen 
Ambition sate ? wert so presumptuous seen, 
That no atonement but a daughter serv'd ? 
One, who from unstained virtue never swerv'd , 
Yet naked was t 'endure a chain must bind 
To the cold rock, till her th' astonish'd hero find, 
Expos'd to that monster of the main ? Thou, 
Gallant Theseus, possess'd the heart should bow 
To beauty, sympathy and love ! Twas thine 
The task to win and wear —Andromeda divine, 

And Orion, — or for heroic deed ! 
Or suffering penitence for crime decreed, 
Compassion asking of the Gods, — tho' fame 
We know shall sully deep the noblest name, 
When coward oportunity present, — 
Now shares, 'tis sure, the glorious firmament, 
Whence too, we see, yon brilliant patriot rays 
Proclaim thy daughter's in immortal praise 
With them the noblest impulse of the breast 
Beat high to rescue, and their country blest, 
Where blasting pestilence assail'd. Hear this, 
Calumnious devotee of sensual bliss : 
Know she, who lives to charm and bless the brave, 
Herself can die, her native land to save, 






PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 47 

Vain and unmanly wretches, void of shame, 

Who'd meanly filch a female's treasur'd name, 

Can history not fix the roving eye ; 

Nor point where Portia, Artemisia die,— 

And Lucrece — Honor's ready sacrifice ? 

Mark o'er each corse the bard, the willow sighs 

What fame shall pleas'd record, — and unborn ages 

prize ! 
And tho' thy neighbour's maid should heedless roam, 
Is't thou wilt guide th' incautious wanderer home ? 
Is it for thee to judge, to cast the stone, 
As though th'unerring virtues were alone 
Thy sum and substance all ? — who tracks and strews 
The devious path with flowers ; yet never shews 
The latent thorn, the lurking flint beneath ; 
Or herbs, that their seductive perfumes breathe 
To blight the bloom of innocence? Is it for thee, 
Unfeeling, to brand with tainted infamy 
The honor and the worth, thou fain would'st lure 
From the fond embrace of relative and sure 
Friend? — ungrateful, too ! Her very sex alone, 
Its offices, its cares have claims. Canst disown 
The virtuous charm and cheer? Canst rate at naught 
Thy natal debt; and all the mother taught 



48 DOKJON, 

Thy lisping accents once, till hope's warm tear 
To rapture swell 'd, and trill'd alternate fear? 
Upon a couch of awful sickness lain, 
Shuun'd too by those, should most assuage thy pain, 
What antidote ? what ministered relief ? 
Woman ! — neglected, or too little prized ! 
Woman ! she, who thy patience best advis'd, 
Herself the heavenly type. Should fancy give 
Alarm of the last hour thou hast to live, 

Is it some clown's rude hands, which thou'dst desire 
To close thine eyes ; to decently attire 

Thy helpless corpse ?- Helpless as thou, at first, 

For pity and the lacteous fount didst thirst, 

When the blest light of woman with sweet nature's 
burst. 

Of all those wretches who disgrace their birth, 

Sure woman least deserves ill season'd mirth. 

Give penitence thy praise ; destitution alms ; 

But fly corruption for unsullied charms. 

Each rock-girt isle of Siren see thou shun ; 

Do thou take heed where thy proud vessel run, 

Lest virtue's slanderer by its counterfeit's undone. 

Tho' loves and graces may surround the fair, 

Has virtue, piety and learning's care 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 49 

Been ever aliens to the sex ? not yet, 
Cornelia, shall Clio thee forget ; 
Nor many a nation cease of worth to sing, 
Such as Eliza could to Britain bring ; 
And such hereafter as that empire own, 
Should Kent's descendant grace the lineal throne : 
And such the hope, to ease our mourning strain, 
Should he who reigns to please — by death alone give 
pain. 

But say, Urania, — midst all these happy spheres 
Is space reserv'd for Calumny, who feeds on tears ? 
Where 'mongst th' Empyrium and forgiving host 
Has slander penitent assign'd its post ? 
The viprous brute's confin'd on earth to dwell, 
Till justice can invent unheard of pangs in Hell. 
And lo ! — the Hyades still weep a brother lost ; 
Seas still are swoll'n with tears ; —ships still are 

grievous tost. 
O for fit terms to sing a sister's love, 
With numbers pleasing to the choirs above ; 
And inspiration tune the praises due 
To softer notes than ever angel knew ! 
From Hyas' grave may odorous dews arise 



50 DONJON. 

And mix th' accepted incense with the skies ! 
Wide o'er the globe may Atlas' Daughters shed 
Their influence, and every Brother tread 
The path, where kindred fondness strews its flowers' 
Rich sweet, grateful to earth, — and lov'd by heav'nly 

pow'rs. 
Such love th' Heliades their ill-starr'd Brother bore, 

Too well, by poplar grac'd and amber-weeping shore, 
Eridanus, thou shew'st. Surely such tree, 
In Woman's mild, majestic symmetry, — 
Bowing beauteously devote to heav'n's wind, — 
Like others of the tender fair ought find 
Distinguish'd rank above ! ought sure— but hold ! 
Rash muse, forbear ! — how oft has reason bold 
Dealt ail deficient her imbecile blow, 
With misjudg'd distance, she presum'd to know ! 
Say, boasted Reason, can thy prying sight 
Count all the wonders of this brilliant night ? 
Can thy false balance half the causes weigh, 
That works its system, or the wheels of day ? 
Yon milk-white road seems pav'd with pearls thick 

sown, 
Has myriad glories with a cause unknown. 
To know so much and be denied the rest, 



> 












PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. $\ 

Is Heaven's providence to its invited guest. 

What wretch art thou, call'd Atheist, say who ? 

What ingrate's false to God, — yet to himself is true ? 

Say why should miracles, reveal'd by writ 

Religious, startle thy faith ? thy wit 

Misplac'd excite ? in miracle we're born, 

Are suckled and expire. As gloom awakes to morn, 

Blind ign'rance discovers light, and by degree 

A labyrinth's unwound on mystery 

Here on earth. Things impossible, once thought, 

Age after age display. Who was't sought 

And found, a double century now gone, 

What was reserved for ages then unborn, — 

To court the vivid lightning of the skies, 

And guide the wing, terrific as it flies, 

Adown the magic line of slender wire, 

Themselves unsear'd, and cag'd the heav'nly fire ? 

Ask Ethiopia's providential rain 

Whence Egypt slakes her sands ? her plain 

Whence fructifies, beyond the world's compare ? 

Nor corn, nor pulse adust ! — and why ? her air 

So perfum'd and so pure ? her blossom'd health ; 

Her joyous herd and flock ; her pasture's wealth ? 

Or, wouldst the varied miracle discern ? 



52 DONJON. 

To Paloestina's vales and hills reflection turn. 

No flood of Nile, but marv'llous rains bethink, 

The herb and seed, that twice of Heav'n's cup drink I 

Where were the path could faith and hope have trod 7 

Had man been wise and perfect as his god ? 

What slight intelligence his brain may scan, 

Should tend to bless by humbling haughty manv 

What the connection canst thou, worm, relate 

'Twixt past, existing and a future state ? 

As little serves to ask of human sense 

God's nature, attributes or existence. 

What the mode ? his meanest boon from whence' ? 

Swifter than ruin from war's tube when shot, 

The light's velocity thy vision not 

Impairs ; but sped in mystery 'twill cheer 

Like charity, whose quick and secret alms endear 

The more. Yet given to gaze so much, so free ?j 

How little of the wondrous whole we see. 

Note this canopy of studded light, 

This solemn silence, tho' so busy night ; 

The generous dew re- visiting the corn, 

To act its function 'till return of morn. 

With true precision rolls the guiding star, 

And the gold fleece is borne from Colchis far. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 53 

From Colchis, where yon affection'd and brave 

Twins, in Jason's Argos having dar'd the wave, 

Together shone in arms. Not life more dear, 

They shar'd each hard-fought honour, hope, or fear. 

Nor Chiron's pupil, nor his gallant crew, 

Shew'd half so noble, — no! — nor half so true. 

But tho' your birth and love were one, another 

Kindness glow'd — that made mankind your brother. 

The barbarous robbers on the traffic main 

Your tutelary arms have slain, 

And sunk perdition-deep, — never to rise again. 

The twins of Leda yet auspicious smile 

Benign regard on Ocean's sons, — the while 

They tempt the awful perils of the deep, — 

Sooth the rough winds, the thunders lull to sleep. 

The wife, solicitous and fond, to you will raise 

Her altar, and consecrate its blaze 

With vows. Thither she leads her lamb snow-white, 

Weeps for her mate's return, — and executes the rite : 

Attracted Pity deprecates the storm, 

And no huge clouds unchain'd the azure vault deform. 

What stream of hoary light thus veils the east, 

As bidding earthlings to enchantment's feast ? 
f 2 



54 DONJON. 

This thm, — yet solid-like, — this gear which night 
Now wears, i'faith's the frolic of some elfin sprite, 
Sporting on goss'mer wings — a visionary flight. 
Soon as those fleecy, changeling clouds sail by, 
The rest forsake their mountain-peaks so high. 
Such craggy scenery, witch'ry and romance, 
Wilder the senses sure in spell-bound trance ! 
Though — Heaven ! -how, passing praise, must now 

be seen 
To mount in regal dignity the queen 
Of these nocturnal realms ; whose empire teems 
With blessings, shed from the urn of her reflected 

beams ! 
Mark the pellucid vapours round her car ; 
Its virgin, sober, silv'ry sheen afar 
O'er gladden'd earth. In every land and age 
Thy birth has been the hallow'd theme of sage, 
Of thankful and of raptur'd man, Of yore 
Th' assembled ancients piously would pour 
Their feelings and their sentiments in holy rite, 
Tho' little could these acts thy benefits requite. 
But, ah ! — to think, that some ! Such always were, 
Who little for their sacred'st obligations care. 
And part of them, to slander sole devote, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 55 

Will vow the proofs of chastity denote 

The grossest guilt : and for their demon-fane 

Select the purest victim to be slain. 

Like me upou this mount, Endymion gaz'd, 

Lost in the wonders of the sight he prais'd ; 

Diana smil'd as now, enthron'd the same, 

But foul Detraction, squint, — did lust to blast her 

fame. 
And thou, fair Stour, whose green-sward banks so well 
I love to muse, thou canst delighted tell 
The honours of that queen, whose mild rays glance 
On thy playful ripple, till it dance 
Cheerily the vales among ; where tripping light, 
Full many a dryad, in dew-dropt vest bedight, 
Steals from her hollow oak, thy Naiades to join. 
She culls the night-clos'd bluebell, shall entwine 
Her virgin tresses, and of auburn bright, 
To grace with revelry the sober night. 
No faded chaplet of putrescent flow'rs 
Drops from the brow of Comus here ; no hours 
Of guilt, where squalid droops the blushless rose, 
Or myrtle sickening its green life foregoes. 
Cynthia's fresh beam ne'er knew inebriate flame : 
Twould petrify the breath, corrupt of shame. 



56 DONJON. 

Here heav'n-lov'd chastity, in starry zone, 

Preserves her happy court — and honourable throne. 

Yes, here from every fountain, brook and lake, 

From mountain rock and dell their nymphs forsake 

The mossy grot or cave. Tis the hour serene, 

To weave fresh crown of oak, or sedge, or evergreen, 

And frolic pastime share — blithe as the lunar sheen. 

Silent each meadow — purest silence all ! 

Brisk bound their feet, yet never heard to fall, 

Or crush the enamell'd mead. By whispers low, 

And becks well understood, they to and fro 

The mazes wind and ravel through the dance ; 

And prudent still, still on no mischief chance. 

A beauty they divide ; tho' iEgle claim 

To be the paragon of grace, and paid the name 

By every sister nymph. Ne'er envy knew 

This sisterhood, but love gave love its due. 

Blanch'd in pure Diana's beam, surpassing fair 

And delicate, sure iEgle's form asks care 

Of partial heav'n ! 'tis symmetry divine : 

No mortal mould nor clay could ere have made it 

thine ! 
That native elegance, that simple ease, 
Lend ever tothyport some new-born charm to_please. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION, S7 

Thine eye's blest radiance darts no wanton ray, 

Like basilisk not kills, nor leads astray ; 

But sheds a cheerfulness, that shews, in part, 

The Elysian treasure of a guileless heart ! 

Thy graces' fount, Boeotia, never gave 

Reflected beauty, such as loves to lave 

In S tour's less celebrate — tho' pure and placid wave. 

May industry and farthest land commerce 

With thee, a navigated stream, and nurse 

To mariner ! the manumitted black 

Too, — may he ride thy free-born track, 

Loving and loved ! — that mutual chain, shall bind 

The sable pilot's heart, whilst Albion find 

His freight, the richest freight, — that loads a grateful 

mind ! 
Now myriad vapours in one flood combine, 
And weave for Stour their mantle's pearly shine, 
Who slumbers on unseen, — a nether stream. 
The hush'd night's empress flings her grey-lit-beam ; 
And fancy loves the sorcery to adorn, 
E'en till the first faint tints of tell-tale dawn 
Th' illusive charm dissolve, — and breathe the breath 

of morn. 
Flow on, sweet Stour ; meander thro' our vale 



58 DONJON. 

And ever be thy charms my favorite tale ! 

Not that, majestic Thames, I could forget ' 

The pious loyalty once felt, whilst yet 

Upon thy fostering, recreative shore, 

I bath'd my infant limbs, — and sipp'd thy classic 

lore; 
Nor mem'ry magnetize no heart-felt sigh, 
Would fain forbid my vainest hopes to die ; 
Would fain revive the flush of boyhood spent, — 
Nay all the peril, that its rashness lent. 
Did but a brother seat him at the helm, 
Let hostile currents threaten to o'er whelm, 
Our pinnace still should brave the bridge's pile, 
The pilot pleas'd I'd trust, and still on horror smile ! 
But lost the chaste moon's cheer on drowsy men, 
Sunk on their downy couch ; and clos'd their ken 
To all, save what the cozening poppy wand 
Of Morpheus conjure up ; — that God so fond 
To act his curtain'd imagery. Here dreams 
The child of nurse's tyranny ; he screams 
To tear the drum, to see what made the noise 
Within ; and early vindicates the rights of boys ! 
The elder brother too, — his brain surcharg'd 
With lesson for th' ensuing mom, enlarg'd 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 59 

The muscles of his vengeful arm, enacts 
Th' inexorable Greek ; and to the wheels 
Of his triumphant chariot binds the heels 
Of his fall'n foe, defiTd with dust and gore ; 
Grossly insults ; then weeps he can no more. 
Oh, happy — do not these impressions stamp 
Obdurate pride, and every milder virtue cramp ! 
Howe'er sublime Moeonian chords may play ; 
Whate'er their fire ; how choice and sweet their lay ; 
May ripening years assuage resentment's leaven, 
And bless' d forgiveness raise an earthly heav'n! 
May every thought— thy word, thy deed, thy look 
Receive its temper from the better book ! 

A sister here, her teens well nigh expir'd, 
With shorten'd breath dreams of the day desir'd — 
The happiest, sure ! love's calendar shall note, — 
Shall tear her from her home and friends, who dote 
Upon their beauteous child ; who sleepless lie 
The livelong night, and deeply anxious sigh, 
And pray and pray,-— and sigh — to read futurity. 
But youth, all prescient, spurns ungen'rous fear : 
Dreams, — more than Poestum's rose, — Love's will 
bloom all the year. 



60 DONJON. 

Heav'n grant— good sense, as well as beauty, wait 
The plighted pair ; and pluck the thorn from fate, 
Must rankle in the breast of wedded dolts. 
Sense is love's guardian more than beauty's bolts. 

That agony, snore and sigh alternate, 

Confess yon miser's bonds and interest great. 

Seldom sleeps he ! — and now chill dews of fear 

Conjure anxieties that danger's near. 

Poor wretch ! he dreams his key's confin'd to th'lock ! 

" The wards are damag'd ! Was there ever shock 

like this ? 
How came it so ? Here, Susan ! run ! — 
A smith !" But Susan, he forgot had done 
With this world — part starv'd, part broken hearted ; 
His dupe of promise had for ever parted 
With him and her last hope of wedded wealth. 
Her wages scanty, sacrificed her health, 
His trusty maid was sunk into her grave, 
And not another could be found his slave. 
Yet no remorse is his, his dread is thieves 
Alone. " What shall he do ? " He now believes 
The rusty iron and its age the cause ; 
Thinks of some cheap smith,— but if he withdraws, 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 51 

What surety his ? He can't extract the key, 

He can't unlock, but others may— and thieves 
there be 

At every turn and angle of the world ! 

His eyeballs roll, his nether lip is curl'd. 
This iron chest he cannot break ; would fain 
Have op'd to count his pelf again ; — 
— And yet — if op'd — how after make secure ? 
Aye ! there's a pang ! must make the usurer poor. 
His soul's convulsed ; the fever'd brain beats high ; 
Wishes the grave his bank, — and almost dares to die; 
But dare not stir. There gazes on his key ; 
The heart blood curdling, all his spirits flee ; 
Conscience upbraids and points — his direful destiny. 
All horror struck he starts, — now moans, — 
And grasping wild his hair, — awakes with his own 
groans. 

There sleeps another, honest as some think. 
He knows to swim, whate'er insolvent sink. 
Prudent of pence, composits of a pound, 
To pay the tradesman none is stricter found ; 
But with a thrift, to meanness close allied, 
Some self indulgences are gratified. 



52 DOXJON. 

He dreams of stocks, of consols, omnium and scrip, 

And does not scruple to pollute his lip 

With just a little slander, can he but trip 

His happy neighbour, and his friends estrange, 

Transferring interests, shall his own arrange. 

Selfish and proud, hard hearted to distress, 

Little recks he the charity may bless 

Another's board, may heal man's jarring strife, 

And kindly qualify the ills of life. 

How restless he ! his arts have fail'd to day ; 

The poor man stands, maugre what foe could say. 

How pain'd he breathes : for conscience would be 

heard. 
He'd scorn the monitor, as bugbear and absurd. 
Yet now one injured neighbour's shade appears, 
And thus addresses his resistless fears. 
" Oh, couldst not thou thy opulence enjoy, 
Pamper thy appetite until it cloy, 
But my little vineyard — must wantonly destroy ; 
Must lend thy busy tongue to blast my name, 
And cover industry with undeserved shame ? " 

There dreams a son of Abraham of his gold, 
Full seven times refined, correctlv told 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. g3 

His interests, and a safer bank ne'er knew 

Usurious cunning than this generous Jew. 

Forgiven and forgotten in downy rest 

Each vulgar insult of the day, how blest 

His peaceful couch i not his the heart and soul, 

Can conscience, like an incubus, control, 

Whose mountain- weight inflicts — excruciating dole. 

A benison, the choicest, waits thy sleep. 

And why ? thon wip'st the tear from eyes that weep, 

And art to penury, as pastors to their sheep. 

Orphan or widow, in thy fold receiv'd, 

By honest sympathy are straight relieved : 

Thy breast, the asylum of extended love, 

Invests its sureties in the firm above. 

Unlike the churl with charitable creed 

In mouth, but on its spirit loth to feed. 

Of christian virtue talks he, and no more, 

For to the poor is clos'd both heart and door. 

He'll give to plenty what it cloth not ask, 

And add his sunshine where the prosp'rous bask. 

What is his dream ? of nectar and delight ! 

Ambrosial dainties, tempting to the sight, 

But far, far beyond the reach ! Though oft he 

Greedy thinks to taste, with festive ecstacy, 



g4 DONJON 

This banquet of the poor, by angels sent :<— 
Yet hope deluded, sick'ning, well nigh spent, 
Distorts his eyes and bursts the seal of sleep. 
They glaze in film ; they from their sockets deep 
Still fix upon the viands their dying light, — 
Still covet to the last — the tantalizing sight. 
What means this burst of light ? Why deeper glows 
The firmament with heat unwont? Who knows 
The mystic cause? 'Tis not from nature sure: 
Her light's creation gen'rous, just and pure. 
Her orb diurnal and her lunar beam, 
Comets, and galaxy, and various stream, 
Pour'd from a fount benign. Here burns the grain, 
For which we have toil'd and pray'd — and garner'd 

all in vain ! 
Tis here gaunt famine strides the blaze. — And hark ! 
From thence it came — that scream of horror. Mark 
Devastation's rapid shaft ! — and where — oh, 
Soul-startling spectacle of fright and woe ! 
Smother'd in the dread, lumber'd mansion's fall, 
And to the death scorch'd — tho' on pity call 
Responsive cries of hundreds, — the mother 
And her babe ! — widower, daughter, brother, 
Stript of their hard earn'd, reputable home 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. Q$ 

And means, now doomed in beggary to roam, 

Fugitives from all, save hopelessness and grief, 

Must envy sufferings that have found relief. 

Who can express the varying sound and sight 

Of scene so strange ? yet who forget this night? 

A vivid change disrob'd its sombre vest, 

And all the hemisphere in borrowed sheen is drest. 

There gleams reflection neither night nor day, 

While ruin flits on wings of twilight ray. 

The sullen furnace roar : wild, wasteful smash ; 

Anon the clattering tile ; the shock and crash ! 

Commingled yells ! the brute and human shriek ! 

And Fear the witness would, but cannot speak. 

The trusty mastiff, chain 'd to fire and pain, 

Howls out his final pang. Oft and again, 

Leagued with the waking wind, quick flashes rise, 

And hold dominion o'er the anger'd skies. 

'Tis no brief despotism runs its length : 

Not yet the elements have pass'd their strength. 

Another flash! — fresh shooting sparks ! — dense smoke, 

That seems awhile the struggling flame to choke ! 

Now issue forth reserved and smouldering fires, 

Till when convulsed and — leaping into spires, — 

Exulting, quivering, each in sated rage expires. 

g 2 



(56 DOKJOX.. 

Yet no ! — the peerless beams of infant day 

Dart on our meaner element ; whose way 

Now bursts anew.— ~Tho' shorn, — intensely red ? 

Glows it impassion 'd, jealous, and still dread. 

Aurora's clouds, that skim yon azure bright, 

Clash their penumbras on this vexed light ; 

Where gradual wreathes the grey fume's many a 

shade ; 
As tho' to task some artist hand display 'd, 
And beauty grace the wreck— that desolation made. 

But who is't boasts this noble deed ? where ke, 
The neighbour, knight and flower of chivalry, 
Whose noble heart conceivd, and whose own hand 
Dar'd, all muffled in the guilty dark, to brand 
With ruin another's weal, — himself with shame 
Unutterable ! come blushing forth and claim 
The smiles of wondering day ; then go thee, chew 
Incendiarism's food,— and serve thy hell anew. 
What unknown monster gave thee baneful birth ? 
Whence stol'st thou, horrid alien to this earth ? 
By what ascent from hell sent here, to taste 
The fruits of heav'n bless'd industry, then waste 
And ravage with relentless flame ? Art thou 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 57 

Some minister of mad revenge ? Avow, 

If can'st, what fault the toilsome steed 

Or lowly kine arraign. What urgent need 

Has thus their agonizing pangs and death decreed? 

Though thou usurp'st the throne of peaceful night, 

The bed-rid and the suckling breast affright ; 

Wide tho' thy sceptre blaze its fell dismay, 

And cureless ruin wound the eye of day ; 

Will virgin justice from her starry height 

Pour down no penalty or pain, to right 

The violated honours of the year, 

And blast thy triumph, whilst inflicting fear ? 

A temperament of fire there yet may be, 

That cruelty ne'er dreamt, nor heaven let see ; 

Some ghastly hydra or chimera shape, 

With Cerberus' yawn, or famish'd tiger's gape; 

Some conscious horror, or some hopeless pang, 

More dire than ever brute's ferocious fang, 

Of what ere poison'd or rack'd wretch complain'd, 

A Tityus endured, or poet yet has feign'd. 

Then pause, thou wretch, may meditate a deed, 

Shall make exult to see thy victim bleed, 

And count his writhing throes. Summon reason ; 



68 DONJON. 

Look well her guise betray no proof of treason. 

Dost purpose craftily revenge or pelf ? 

Give conscience hearing. Go, respect thyself. 

But sure in cruel flame none can delight, 

Save fiends ! What, man ! who first in piteous plight 

Of infancy, yet to his maker dear, 

Th' essential comfort to existence here 

Has felt of fire ; in chilling age the embers 

Bows to as a household god, — remembers, 

Much too grateful ever to reverse 

Such elemental blessing to a curse ! — 

Blessing no thankfulness can e'er repay. 

It is his hearth's, his altar's guardian stay ! 

Loving to loose stern winter's frozen chain, 

What time he'd hunger and would thirst in vain, 

Did not, with all the nurse's fostering care, 

This cordial friend his vines, and aliment prepare. 

Ah me, that man, or devil, can distress 

With instruments, by nature meant to bless ! 

And what avails it, mem'ry shew that pile 

Combust, aside the blushing waters of the Nile, 

So glares reflected in its frightful mass 

Of rueful conflagration ? There alas ! 

Smelted a mine of wealth and golden lore ; 






PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 59 

A world's invaluable and vested store. 

There 'twas great Lagides, thy Alma Palace stood, 

Asylum of the scholar, genius, and the good ! 

Thine, Alexandria,— thine the omen'd fall,— 

Thy schools, and thy philosophy and all 

To barbarism and to Omar ! Tis not 

(Egyptus' pearls dissolv'd ; nor with what 

A wanton queen luxuriously may deck, 

And win a Roman to her fatal neck t 

That wisdom covets or would weep to lose . 

Not for such things the sorrowing muse 

Upon thy ashes, learning, sheds a tear: 

Tis that the torch of ign'rance light the bier, 

And science' wasted lamp — but glimmer dark and 

drear. 
How had the soul of gentle Scipio yearn'd ; 
How with this sacrifice his heart have burn'd ; 
Could here fair learning's, and the muses' friend 
Witness th' irrevocable flames ascend 
On wings of barbarous ruin. Oh, could grief 
Avail, for ev'ry spark — a tear would find relief. 
And thou, Persepolis, in ruin, — albeit grand, 
And marvel of magnificence — dost stand 
A lamentable record of mad power, 



70 DONJON. 

Let loose in idle and inebriate hour. 

There Persia's victor 'twas, by Thais led, 

And portent of his birth misjudg'd, made head 

Against the honours of a laurell'd name : 

His name, whose natal night, we're told by fame, 

Thy wonder, Ephesus, phrophetic laid in flame. 

That mansion, eastward ! — do its wails maintain 

Some rich man's yawning, lazy, pamper'd train, 

Strutting in silken hose and foppish shoe, — 

Apes of importance vain, — and servants little true ; 

Whilst many a peasant, weary and ill-fed, 

Scarce owns a pallet to repose his head ? 

No ; 'tis for disease, the hurt, and the distress'd, 

Which brother men have gen'rous built and bless'd 

As heav'n smil'd applause. Charity's in th' land, 

Tho' oft some niggard doles — with cold, ignoble hand. 

How few proportion to their means their alms, 

And tho' gold covet, feel not half its charms ! 

How many can their twenties, fifties give, 

But scores of thousands leave, that heirs may live. 

May iEsculapius happily preside 

Long o'er this pious scene ! may there spread wide 

Compassion's wing, shall raise the drooping poor, 

And wealth transplant a rose to every cottage door ! 









PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 71 

And the neighbouriug dome ? — Those gates alas ! 
Detain a tenantry, denied to pass 
Their boundary, 'till expiate such crimes, 
As swell the calendar and stain the times. 
Oh, happiest of the happy he, who strives 
To cleanse and purify his neighbours' lives, 
Himself the rare ensample ! much is due 
From the parental, priestly ties ; from you, 
Th' associate ; or the instructor of the mind, 
To gauge its faculties and bias find, 
Did these their sacred offices unite 
With equal energy and equal might, 
Mankind should see a golden age return, 
And each unkindly passion cease to burn. 
Education and ensample ! these twain 

Must constitute man's highest gain. 

'Tis not the depths of learning's lore to sound ; 

In arts excel ; — how good alone is found. 

Knowledge and thought are weapons smooth and keen; 

But how discreetly use them must be seen, 

Or to adorn or serve ! by others' ill 

To point youth's prudence and restrain his will ; 

T'illustrate causes and results of vice ; 

To foster virtues ; court conceptions nice ; 




72 DONJON. 

To win with suavity, with reason mild; 

Yet whilst indulgent, not to spoil the child. 

The code of life t' engrave upon the boy 

Should chief the Mentors of our sons employ. 

And most perhaps the morals of the poor 

Should owe to reason prejudice's cure. 

Taught well to read and better still to THINK, 

For wisdom might they thirst — its social cup might 

drink. 
A nation's happiness is found to flow 
Not more from what the prince than subjects know. 
The heart and intellect of each need learn 
Their separate duties justly to discern ; 
The hind convinc'd, obedience is his part, 
Will reverence the laws with honest heart ; 
Whilst kings, taught wisdom by kind heav'n above, 
Shall know their crown's best gem — to be the people's 

love. 

And when the durance of a felon ends, 

May there some pitying angel raise him friends ! 

Let each proud sinner learn himself 'to know, 

Nor be exceptless all the world his foe ! 

The worst of felons is our brother still ; 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 73 

The best of men abusers of the will. 

Shall thought on science and the arts be spent, 

Yet charity's bright genius fail t' invent 

Encouragement for penitence and grief ? 

Shall prudence not administer relief 

To destitute despair? O sons of wealth, 

Who lounge and idle, to the loss of health, 

Ye might employ some moments to devise 

How wretches may return to virtue, and be wise. 

Blest is the boon, where affluence has will'd 

Its patch of land, the famish'd poor have till'd! 

How sure the thanks, some little spot, when sown, 

To know its fruits and husbandry their own ! 

Tis here the smile beams on the native soil, 

All patriot pride and honorable toil! 

The hind, that delves from dawn till evening's dew, 

Opening for others opulence anew, 

It ill befits to gall with penury's chain, 

And stamp on industry the sluggard's stain. 

Another sun departs. Such fiick'ring beam 
These eyes may muse no more. -And now, or is't a dream? 
O for expression ! where no effort faint, 



74 DONJON. 

Where daring verse might sing, and genius paint 

This majesty of light, thy realms have drest, 

Thou gorgeously sublime, — thou ruby-glowing West ! 

As onward bound the generous steeds of day ; 

Exhale their genial fires and spurn delay; 

We quaff the vine mature; but couch on down, 

Ere yet our grace its purple nectar crown : 

Heedless how gratitude this debt redeem, 

Nor thank to-day's, nor doubt to-morrow's beam. 

Here too! — Ccelestial sprites! — what creature's 

wond'rous shade 
Glides godlike down the East, as tho' to aid 
The waning day '?-— The pride of christian land ; 
Substance of all that's elegant, that's grand. 
Stupendous pile of beauty, as of strength! 
That hesitating time vouchsafes a length 
Of days unwont, as tho 1 himself desir'd, 
And could not choose, but spare charms so admir'd; 
So rob'd appropriate in sober grey, 
Smiling a reverend triumph o'er decay. 
Why doth surprize arrest repeated gaze ? 
Still claim for grace some more than vulgar praise? 
How could this mass, torn from the quarry rude, 
Cement in art's munificentest mood 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. 75 

Each choicely delicate and finished stroke ? 

Thy faithful votary must fain invoke 

Some holy guardian, still protect thy tow'rs, 

Thy hallow'd offices, thy Heav'nly pow'rs. 

Challeng'd, yet dumb, herb flattery stands aghast, 

Her craft outrivall'd and by truth surpass'd : 

May oft my pausing step, and wistful ear, 

Thine echoing aisle invite, soon as some clear, 

Rich-voic'd, and choral hymn chastely shall lend 

Its heav'nward notes, and earth-born care suspend ! 

Hebrus I'd quit for thy more valued haunt, 

To taste the pure spring of thy sterling chaunt. 

Here mine be rapture, scarce akin to earth, 

By music feasted on my Saviour's birth ; 

Here grateful mount this soul to quires above, 

On Hallelujahs of empyreal love ; 

My every sense absorbed in these alone, 

Here joy in homage to my Maker's throne ! 

May no wild maniac, no Vandal foe 

Insult thy creed, or sanctity o'erthrow ! 

Thy every hurt may visitor deplore, 

Till piety, till taste, till science be no more ! 

Thou, in the honours of thy hoaried age, 

Like good and great men's, most the heart engage. 



7g DOSJON 

Let youthful smiles assume the jewel's ray, 

A patriarch's glory brighter beams display. 

Tis not the colour of a verdant spring, 

Nor lights and shades that summer fling, 

Can paint the landscape in such beauty true, 

As autumn's varied, soft, and parting hue. 

Unveil'd my destiny of future hours, 

Perchance my last now contemplate thy tow'rs ; 

A course, hence exil'd, bend to fate's control ; 

Or, run my sand, part soon the weary soul ; — 

Soon this fleet streamlet time — Eternal ocean roll ! 

Yet pray'd 1 ne'er, — ne'er yet my fancy drank 

A hope so profitless ! — my earthly rank 

Should such ascendant gain on men below, 

That thou my requiem, — thou my praise bestow. 

This for such pillars of thy faith reserve, 

As best support thee with unwearied nerve, 

And where from its creator — least the image swerve. 

' Tis here reposes in his cloister 'd grave 
A relative, whose virtues could not save 
From wreck of meaner clay, — the gen'ral doom ! — 
To watch the progress of his offspring's bloom. 
Lamented brother, lov'd from earliest date/ 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. ^7 

And semblance to thy mother ! that charm so great, 

As 'twere once meant by pity's grace above, 

To soothe domestic grief, and pledge my love 

To both : — a love not forward to display 

A tinsel lustre to the gossip day ; 

But witness'd by each star, each angel care, 

When hearts can pour forth fond and fervent prayer. 

Far to the south a younger semblance lies, 

Of beauteous kin. Oh ! could she hear these sighs 

Convulsive, —sure 'twould rend her gentle heart : 

For did but ache a parent's head, her art 

'Twas bound the kerchief, steep'd in many a tear, 

As trill'd each nerve her sensibility and fear. 

Type of those blossoms, fresh the breezes drave 

From apple-bough and almond o'er her grave, 

In life's bright spring she fell ; — fell from these arms, 

That strove to stay, and to protect the charms, 

Grim atrophy could rob. In vain I bore 

Her to thy airy height, Donjon, — no more 

To taste thy draughts of renovating breath : 

Higher looked her pious soul, — and borrow'd wings 

of death ! 

Pleas'd with the priz^ — to grace her lonely side, — 
h 2 



78 DONJOH, 

The grave a loving sister elaim'd, to hide 

The worth of female lore— and all the father's pride ! 

But these wept objects shar'd not all my grief, 
Call'd not alone on pity for relief. 
Wing'd on the chilling blast fresh tidings knoll'd 
Of souls departed, — souls with heav'n enroll'd ! 
Life's sojourn fmish'd, their career's good end, 
Mourn'd by each foe, and doubly dear to friend. 
Oh ! who shall fix the boundary of gref, 
If fast fall those, our solace and relief ! — 
From fond and grateful hearts too rudely snatched, 
With all their worth,— I'd almost said unmatch'd. 
The doleful knell yet vibrates on the ear, 
Still ling'ring memory must bedew the bier 
With kinsmen's, paupers', and — a grateful poet's 
tear. 

What unsophisticate and simple sounds are 
these ? 

Sounds that ideas associate shall please 
When taste may pall for proud and craftier notes. 
Sweeter than response to bell-team chime, 
May playful bound, at early matin time, 






PROSPECT AND aEFLECTION. 79 

From yonder wood ; sweeter than her first kiss, 

The mother give her babe, plighting the bliss 

Of love connubial ; than Freedom's breeze 

More sweet to patriot heart, which ill agrees 

With bondage of the base ; — nay, sweet beyond 

compare 
To me that knell, when eas'd of toil and care, 
God's children, one and all, are ask'd to join in 

pray'r! 
Kind spirit of the sabbath bell, that floats 
Around his cot, long, — long ! mayst thou invite 
The poor and aged to that cheering rite, 
Can lift him to the bosom of his God ! 

Saint Martin's oratory tells where once trod 
The zealous Augustine, whose christian train 
Then lustrated in font of earliest fane, 
And Ethelbert approved : for Bertha sigh'd 
And gain'd, what had her beauty been denied, 
Perchance. Her proofs, persuasion, pious heart, — 
These won the Pagan consort, to depart 
From gross idolatries, well pleas'd t'embrace 
A faith, on mercy built, on penitence and grace. 
Thou, temple meek, humility's own type, 



80 donjon. 

Albeit venerable, blest, and ripe 

Of years, 'tis not from idly curious call, 

Thus oft 1 seek thy consecrated wall 

Of antique clay, thy font of sculptur'd skill. 

Not the frail Vessel's beauty can thus fill 

My heart with adoration. The design 

And use imperishable be it mine 

To thank ; mine the vast masonry to praise, — 

Howe'er inadequate these lowly lays,— 

Of sin forgiv'n, — that arch of boundless span, 

Wide as the wanderings of guilty man,— 

Redemption's scheme ! Slunk from the city crowd, 

Alike defamatory, envious and proud, 

Inspired, I ruminate thy wondrous creed, 

And cares distract on its nepenthe feed. 

At sight of thee, I note the cross's cause, 

Glow with its triumph, bind me to its laws ; 

While the wean'd, wearied soul earth's vanity abhors. 

For what's life's record ? days of embitter'd joys, 

Delusive pleasures, or of trifling toys. 

Andsee yon monitory trace and track 

Of Augustine, thy splendour, wealth, and wrack. 

So vain is all man's boasted art and pow'r, 

Pilaster, column, Keystones of an hour, 






PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. gl 

To hold against the press of time, or hand 

Of pillage ! strip'd of thy lofty stand, 

And gorgeous decoration, thou once grand 

Spire, thou architrave, — alas! how humble 

Now. Now pride with humbler dust can crumble, 

Trodden by every vulgar foot ! I pray 

You vers'd in antique lumber, here display 

The difference 'twixt dust in quality. Which 

The heart dust of the arrogant and rich ? 

Where the arch priest's ? and shew me where a king's? 

Their value too ? — come weigh these things ;— 

A prelate's pound and monarch's. Best or wo^est, 

Which dust wilt separate, weigh and charge fox first ? 

And whose the heaviest in your estimation, — 

The pauper's dust, or his who rul'd a nation ? 

Yet is there he, such atoms can unite : — 

Ay ! quicker than the swiftest lightning's flight, — 

So dread to think ! — Perchance yon almonry 

May rise again, and interceder be. 

Of yore refected here, its poor may be 

Awak'd, to deprecate the destiny 

And wrath of justice. With cheering face, 

And mien, bright charity,— on whom some grace, 



82 donjon. 

Some good,eachlov'd and loving cherub has impress'd, 

Alike to his paternal smile who bless'd 

Creation jubilant, — kind maid 'tis thou 

May'st smooth the furrows on displeasure's brow ; 

For luxuries plead, and crimes, that in their day, 

Deepen'd the sluggish cloister's lifeless ray, 

And precinct, dedicate to heav'n, stain'd. 

Where bloated fortune's self at length disdain 'd 

In shame, to glut her maw and revenues more, 

Blush'd for the idol, she could once adore, 

And sped her course reform 'd — from superstition's 

shore. 
The clock ! —to midnight's chill and startled ear 
What solemn monitor ! — who shall the fear 
Conceive, that strikes his melancholy cell 
Like its poor wretch, — who now must only tell 
The remnant hours of a brief, forfeit life, 
The morrow's morn exacts : tho' child or wife, 
Distract, must ne'er embrace him more ? — and yet 
Some culprit life may sooner pay its debt, 
Be't mine, or be't my neighbour's. Hours have fled 
Since curfew rang, and most folk ta'en their bed. 
Man must be thrifty of his couch and sleep, 
Who vigils of philosophy wouid keep. 



PROSPECT AND REFLECTION. g3 

But lucubration in excess were weak, 
For some remission the stretch'd thoughts bespeak; 
And he must know, who hopes his Maker's care, 
Recluse devotion owes the closet pray'r. 
There extern objects fail t'engross the mind, 
And best he knows his very self to find, 
With each vague thought call'd home — to a Creat( 
kind. 

Farewell, ye groves, to whom so much I owe, 
From you my happiest. contemplations flow ; 
From you my health. And may the public taste 
And estimate ne'er slight thy gifts, nor waste 
Their hours and health with scenery less sane ! 
Farewel, sweet Donjon, 'till I come again ! 
And should no more these footsteps hither bend , 
Be thou to others as to me a friend ! 
Raise the dull soul, the sinking pulse awake ; 
Some moral flight let pensive votaries take ; 
Engage their feelings to the happiest tone, 
And Health and Gratitude — The high priz'd blessing 

own ! 

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